


Mutation (discontinued)

by The_Yognaut (The_Optimist)



Series: The Animal Within [1]
Category: The Yogscast
Genre: (Mr Owl), Birds, Cats, Dogs, F/F, F/M, M/M, Owls, Running, Shifters, Stuff!, a hell of a lot of running
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-10-11
Updated: 2014-12-14
Packaged: 2018-02-20 18:03:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,291
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2437982
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Optimist/pseuds/The_Yognaut
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Toby Cottrell, twelve year old abuse victim and shifter, finally escapes from his father's imprisonment. With little time (and blood) left, he makes his way through his city, and meets Martyn Littlewood. Together the two grow closer, and as their time grows short, find the love neither of them received before...</p><p>DISCONTINUED.<br/>If you feel like taking this over leave a comment on the last chapter.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Mutation

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Here Today, Gone Tomorrow](https://archiveofourown.org/works/2227713) by [CabageCat (CarnageKittie)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CarnageKittie/pseuds/CabageCat). 



“Toby? You okay hunny?”  
“I’m fine mum, just a sore head and back.”  
“Okay, well tell me if it gets any worse.”

~     ~     ~

“Toby?! Toby!”  
“Mummy! Help me! It hurts so much!”  
“I’m sorry Toby! I’m so sorry…”

~     ~     ~

“Don’t you still love me mum?”  
“Of course I do. Why?”  
“You won’t look at me anymore.”  
“…”

~     ~     ~

“IT’S YOUR FAULT HE’S LIKE THIS!”  
“If anything, it’s YOUR fault he mutated!”  
“WELL, THAT FREAK’S YOUR SON!”  
“Mum? Dad?”  
“GET THE FUCK OUT!”

~     ~     ~

“Mum? Where are you going?”  
“I’m sorry. But I can’t stay here anymore. Not with you and your father.”  
“But mummy…”  
“I’m NOT your mother.”

~     ~     ~

“Stupid freak. You sent Gillian away from me!”  
“Dad please…”  
“Shut the fuck up!”  
“…”

~     ~     ~

“YOU STUPID SON OF A BITCH!”  
“Please! No!”  
“YOU WORTHLESS… FUCKING… ANIMAL!”  
“HELP M-!”

~     ~     ~

Toby Cottrell remembered his life in snap-shots. They started out normal and happy, until he was about six or seven, and got extreme pain throughout his body. He became something that the populace refer to as a shifter, a human with animal features that can become the animal it shares traits with.

The stress his community put on his parents after his change became too much, and his mum left when he was eleven. With his mother gone, his father began to take his loss and rage out on Toby, hitting him, and eventually beginning to smash him with bottles.

And that’s how Toby found himself now. Lying at the bottom of the stairs, trying to get up while his dad caught his breath. Just as he got up onto his knees with shaking limbs, another kick came to the stomach. His father marched off to the kitchen, and Toby struggled up again. He grabbed the wall as he stood, and watched with wide, pleading eyes as his dad came back with bottles.

“Please dad…” He couldn’t help but whisper, trying to melt into the shadows.

“YOU’RE NOT MY FUCKING SON!” He screamed, and began to smash the bottles against Toby’s outstretched arms. He began to cry as the glass cut his bruised skin, and suddenly screamed in pain as shards hit his stomach. He gripped the pieces, leaving his head unprotected. He realised his mistake too late, as even his father’s slow reflexes caught him. Glass shattered against his skull, making every colour in the room increase in brightness until it became white, before suddenly become black, as if someone had hit the off switch.

With the change in tone, came the feeling of weightlessness. It felt as if he were flying, and there was no pain to accompany it. He relaxed into it, for the few seconds he had. Within minutes he found himself laying on the stairs, his father having left once his toy blacked out. Or at least, so he thought.

As he lifted his head, a shadow moved into his vision, bringing a darkened image of his father with a bat. “Hello Toby. Wakey wakey.” His voice was too calm, considering he had been screaming not too long ago. Toby shuffled back, but his father grabbed him, pinning him to the ground.

Toby couldn’t deal anymore, his chest was heaving, his eyes were burning, his stomach was throbbing in pain, and his head felt too alive, buzzing. “Stop…” He begged, but his father, the man he once called ‘dad’, just began to laugh.

“Make me, bitch.” Toby just wanted away. He wanted to be smaller, able to run and get away. And as he thought harder about it, is seemed to happen. At first his father didn’t notice that Toby was shrinking as he hit his exposed shoulder and ribs, but he certainly noticed when he suddenly had hair all over his body, and beginning to struggle away. “HEY!” He yelled, and Toby began to escape.

Ignoring the pain, he got up and ran, climbing out the window and onto the street, pushing his legs to carry him anywhere but there. And so he ran. He ran until the sun began to shine, and moved up the sky, finally collapsing as it reached it’s mid-way point. He crawled into an alleyway, and slept. When he woke, it was dark, and he was fully sized once again. So he concentrated, and tried to shrink again.

Within a few seconds, he began to grow fur and grow smaller, and his bones snapped and popped, and he became an animal once more. He was a cat, fur as black as night, and a long tail. His fur was matted with blood, both fresh and old, and there were still pieces of glass sticking out of his skin. With a sigh, he got up and began to move again, this time noticing his slight limp.

Toby continued his journey till his legs collapsed under him in the early hours of the morning. Looking around, with tired eyes he found a small set of stairs leading up to a small house. There looked to be enough room to sleep under the stairs in human form, so he carefully crawled under. With a sigh, he closed his eyes to sleep. He just hoped he would find help soon.

~     ~     ~


	2. Glass

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Umm... well, this is the last chapter of my old writing style, hopefully I can post more with not-shit writing. -\\_(^_^)_/- (Shrug face, duh.)

~    ~    ~

“Get up blondy.”   
“I’m up, I’m up.”   
“Hurry up, I’m not going to be late for breakfast again because of you.”

~    ~    ~

“Martyn Littlewood?”   
“Here Miss.”   
“Littlewood, what kind is that, are you a treehugger blondy?”   
“No…”

~    ~    ~

“YOU FUCKING SHIFTER!”   
“I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”   
“GET OUT!”   
“I’m sorry!”

~    ~    ~

“Martin, as in M-A-R-T-I-N?”   
“No, uh, M-A-R-T-Y-N.”   
“Nobody spells it that way dear. I’ll just write it with an ‘i’.”

~    ~    ~

“Who are you, blondy?”   
“Don’t call me that. My name’s Martyn.”   
“Whatever blondy. Welcome to your new home.”

~    ~    ~

“Martyn, don’t you have anyone you want to spend lunch with?”   
“No, I don’t have any friends.”   
“What about the other boys in your orphanage?”   
“They don’t like me.”

~    ~    ~

“You’re a shifter?”   
“Um, yeah. Okay?”   
“No. No, it’s not okay. You’re... you're a fucking animal! Get out!”   
“No, please!”   
“GET OUT!”

~    ~    ~

Run, run, run. Just keep running. They can’t hurt you if they can’t catch you. Martyn took a deep breath, letting out a gasp that turned into a sob as he ran through the city.

Where to go, where to go. Martyn looked through the dark night, trying to find somewhere to hide. He could hear the sounds of running feet behind him, getting louder and faster.

He dived down an alley, running along until he hit the wall at the end. He looked up at the obstacle in fear and anger, before spinning around to meet those chasing him.

He looked on in confusion and horror as faceless people blocked his only exit from him. They screamed things at him, how he was useless, a coward, an idiot, ugly, stupid, gay.

His sobs came louder and wouldn’t stop as he pressed his back to the wall. “Join us Martyn~…” The voices sang, and he shook his head. “Join us~…”

“NO!” He screamed, and suddenly he was in a dark room, sat upright in his own bed. Pressing his face into his hands, he began to slow his breathing. Tears continued to stream down his face, but he slowly lay back down. He rolled onto his side and watched the curtains as light began to peek in. He took a deep breath before throwing his covers back and getting up.

With a stretch and a sigh, he made his way into the hallway and then downstairs. He went over to the door and checked outside, but he didn’t see anyone. He shook his head. “Don’t be stupid Martyn. The second you go outside without a hoodie you’ll be seen.”

He backed away from the door, rubbing his tired eyes as he grabbed Duncan’s hoodie from the back of the chair in the kitchen, pulling it on, zipping it up and pulling up his hood. He made his way outside and down the stairs to where the newspaper sat on the bottom step.

However, as he reached down to grab it, he heard a whimper beneath his feet. With a frown, he threw the paper at the door before crouching down at the small hole under the stairs. He looked inside, glad for his night vision, and was shocked by what he saw.

Underneath their porch, a cat with bright brown eyes that shone with sadness looked up at him in fear.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay. I’m not going to hurt you. Look,” Martyn said, pulling back his hood a bit to reveal his ears. “I’m just like you. Except with a human bit. But still similar.” The small cat stared at him with wide eyes for a few seconds, before cautiously limping forward.

“Hey, you don’t look too good. You want me to help ya little buddy?” The cat gave a sad purr, and Martyn took that as a yes. “Come on then.” He said gently, opening his arms. The cat took a few more steps forward, and Martyn finally saw the glittering pieces of glass in his fur.

“Ouch. Did somebody throw a bottle at you?” The cat flinched and paused, but continued towards him a few seconds later. “Good boy. Come on, let’s clean you up.” He said to the cat, picking it up under it’s legs so as not to touch the now very visible glass. “You know, black cats are supposed to be bad luck.” He adds, as he takes note that cat is completely black from ear tips to tail. The cat gave a small huff into his elbow, and Martyn laughed. “You’ll be fine with us though. It smells nice in here.” He told the cat as he opened the door bringing him in.

“I’m going to have to shout for Lewis, so don’t be afraid if I raise my voice.” Martyn had a thing with cats, mostly because he could shift into a sandy coated one at will, and so they could mostly understand him in human form.

“LEWIS!” Martyn called up the stairs, and even though he had warned the black tom, he still flinched.

“WHAT?!” Came the sleep and slightly annoyed response from upstairs.

“DOWNSTAIRS! NOW!” He turned back to the black cat crouched on the kitchen table again. “Don’t worry about Lewis, he’s a grumpy old badger most of the time, but he’s quite nice when you get to know him.” Martyn reached over and slowly began to stroke the cat’s fur as he heard footsteps on the stairs.

“What is it Mart-“ He paused as he saw the cat on his table. “Great. I’ll get Hannah.” Martyn gave a nod as Lewis left, before turning back to the cat lying in their kitchen.

“Hannah is a great healer, she fixes us up when we get hurt. Which isn’t very often, we’re very agile.” He continued to run his fingers through the dark fur, and smiled as the cat began to purr. “You’re going to need a name. Do you have one already?” The cat looked into his blue eyes, before letting out a very human like sigh. The cat dropped his head to the table, becoming very still for a few moments as Martyn looked on in worry.

“I’m sorry.” Finally came the whisper, and Martyn’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Shit.” He couldn’t help it, as he realised the badly injured cat was actually a young shifter. “What’s your name then?” He asked more calmly.

“I-I’m Toby.” He was very quite, and his voice was raspy as if he hardly ever spoke. Martyn wondered how long he had been living in cat form for.

“I’ve got Hannah.” Lewis said bringing a bleary eyed owl shifter into the room. She let go of Lewis’ hand and made her way over to the cat, before bending over and sniffing him.

“Shifter.” She states, and Martyn nods.

“His name is Toby.” She flicks her wing in conformation before opening one of the drawers in the counter Toby is laid on and pulls out a med kit.

“Now, I know this is going to hurt, but can you change back for me please Toby?” She asks gently while running a hand through his fur. He nods, and she moves away to allow him to shift. His fur recedes to show a ripped t-shirt and jeans, and long shaggy brown hair. His eyes are still the same shade of brown, but in a now very human looking face. Toby curls up on his side, letting out low hums of pain as Hannah takes out a pair of scissors.

She cuts open his shirt, showing large shards of green glass sticking out of his stomach and smaller pieces in his arms.

“Head.” He croaks, and Hannah immediately moves round to check his head.

“I can’t see past your hair. I’ll have to cut it off.” He nods, and she points at Lewis, and with a nod he runs off upstairs. Martyn, feeling useless, grabs Toby’s hand. The boy, who Martyn realises can’t be any older than fifteen, curls around his hand, as Lewis returns with the shaver.

Hannah takes it, plugging it in nearby and switching it on. She carefully shaves off all of Toby’s hair, and when she’s finished she pats his shoulder. “Well done Toby.” She then gets out her tweezers, removing a large blood stained piece of a broken bottle from Toby’s head. Lewis grabs a bowl and sets it out for the glass. By the time Hannah is finished with Toby’s head, there is a large piece of glass in the bowl, and at least four smaller pieces. There is also a small pool of blood in the bottom of the bowl, and the kitchen table has large splatters of red over it as well.

 

_**To Be** **Continued**_


End file.
